Often an individual having a two-way radio wishes to contact people who do not have access to a radio or are otherwise not able to communicate via radio. In response to this need, systems were developed to interface a two-way radio to a telephone network. Some prior art systems utilized acoustic coupling mechanisms to interface the audio signals, but suffered from poor quality communication between the radio and the telephone and reliability issues inherent in such electromechanical devices.
Prior art interface systems based on electrical coupling improved the signal quality of the communications. These prior art systems suffer, however, from a lack of flexibility in adjusting the audio signals to account for variations in the signal strengths or voice volumes of the calling and receiving parties, for example. Further, such interface systems do not provide an operator, who is facilitating the interface, with flexibility in communicating with the calling and receiving parties in the enabling of the call connection and the subsequent monitoring of the call.
In view of the aforementioned shortcomings associated with existing interface systems for interfacing radio communications on a telephone network, there is a strong need in the art for an interface system which provides for clear and reliable communications therebetween. Moreover, there is a strong need in the art for an interface system which allows for flexibility of a system operator in establishing, monitoring and controlling such an interface.